At the end of each chapter are detail and main idea questions about the chapter’s contents as well as a prayer.

It would be a very sharp and trying experience to me to think that I have an affliction which God never sent me, that the bitter cup was never filled by his hand, that my trials were never measured out by him, nor sent to me by his arrangement of their weight and quantity. In Chronic Love, Brooke Bartz reveals a deeply raw and descriptive account of life with a chronic and debilitating illness, and she shares with readers how comfort and strength can be found through the Truth in God’s Word. He was helping to complete the full story of Christ's afflictions still to be endured for Christ's church. Chronic Love” captured my attention because of its subtitle: “Trusting God While Suffering with a Chronic Illness”. This book was fully saturated with scripture and was a huge encouragement to those who suffer daily.The goal is to have the best quality of life possible while acknowledging that I will always be disabled.

Each year Ambassador International works with a variety of talented, passionate authors using their gifts to change lives. I was blessed time and again while reading this book as I was reminded of the promises in God’s Word and how they apply to my life. It will be so helpful to me to have the personal stories and all of the many wonderful scripture to refer back to when I am feeling so down. This year I have endeavored to stop waiting for my conditions to improve and really persist in glorifying God more than ever in spite of the pain and symptoms, so this book was a very timely read. I am not sure I would place this is my k-12 Christian school library unless it came to my attention that we had a secondary female student who suffered from a chronic illness.As one who has chronic (and as yet undiagnosed) health issues, this book is a blessing and one I will probably purchase in paperback and refer to over and over again. I received a complimentary copy of this book, but was under no obligation to read the book or to post a review. I’d easily recommend this for people to read who either deal with illness themselves or know of others that do.

She is the founder of Open Hearts in a Closed World Ministry and Conference and is involved in women’s ministry at her church. While this is written in a conversational language that is easy to read, it took me several days to finish it because I found myself wanting to savor and ponder the Bible verses and the author’s perspective. Clearly the agony and how our Lord would be treated and killed was within God the Father's direct and ordained will. I read the Kindle version of Chronic Love which may have interfered with the structure of the book to some extent. I picked this book up primarily thinking of one of my relatives, but also because of a few others that I know who live with chronic illnesses.In stark contrast to one of the reviewers who said, "to think God “ordained” such makes me feel angry and rebellious against such a God," there is this quote by Charles Spurgeon who spent his whole life battling severe depression and gout.

It is a mystery, but one that will never be discovered without accepting it from God, as from His hand. However, something that we often overlook is that if we belong to the Lord, we already have the cure! Brooke Bartz is a stay-at-home wife and mom who lives daily with a chronic disease, knowing firsthand the daunting, gnawing physical and spiritual pain it causes. Having “invisible” disabilities makes life more challenging because people assume you are well and don’t understand why you can’t do things or go places.

I was looking for more deep insight in living with chronic illness and the way out of making an idol of it, letting it take over life and lead into dark thoughts. Something that struck me while reading was that when we bemoan our condition we are actually hurting God because we are going against His will for us; we know that He uses all things for our good and for His glory if we are His children (Romans 8:28). Each chapter employs the adjective “chronic” affixed to a Christian concept, upending the negative connotation of the word and demonstrating how Christ’s character and example show us how to live no matter the state of our physical condition. Unfortunately in today’s world many people have bought into ideals like the prosperity gospel because of how attractive it sounds, but there is an entire group of people fully ignored and/or unjustly judged.